The average age of the victims was 29, and almost every one of them was Latinx. They were “brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors, husbands and wives. But above all, they were human beings,” HRC President Chad Griffin said yesterday in Orlando at the launch of the 2016 Vocal Majority Tour urging voters supporting commonsense gun violence prevention laws to vote in November..

Following the Pulse tragedy, the city of Orlando, Equality Florida and the LGBT Community Center of Central Florida established the OneOrlando Fund to help those affected by the deadly attack..

According to The Washington Post, the fund received donations from 150,000 individuals and companies in more than 120 countries.

“In total, $29.5 million was donated to the OneOrlando Fund,” the OneOrlando Fund reported. “Today, the Board approved the allocation of funds to 299 claimants in four categories – deceased, injured with hospitalization, injured with outpatient treatment and present inside Pulse.”

Additionally, LGBTQ leaders in Orlando came together to form The LGBTQ Alliance and partnered to create The Heal Orlando Project. HRC encourages everyone to visit http://healorlando.org/ to access support or lend a hand to Pulse survivors and victims’ families.

For too long, a toxic combination of anti-LGBTQ hate and easy access to guns has put LGBTQ people at disproportionate risk of violence and murder. The tragic killing of 49 innocent people on Latin Night at Pulse nightclub in Orlando — young lives taken solely because of who they were — has rocked our nation to its core. It’s time to stop the hate. Learn more here.